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50 cities with the greenest commutes

Posted: 10:16 AM, Apr 20, 2016

Updated:2016-04-20 14:22:20Z

By:
Sabrina Perry

<p>Biking to work. Credit: Pixabay</p>

A majority of Americans, 59 percent, believe that stricter environmental regulations are worth the cost, according to Pew Research Center
. These environmental beliefs don’t stop most people from driving alone to work, however. Not only does this harm the environment with CO2 emissions
, but it contributes to traffic congestion and longer commute times. Taking public transportation, carpooling, walking and biking are easy ways to lessen your carbon footprint, and people in some cities do so much more than others.

Using data from the American Community Survey
, the analysts at FindTheHome
looked at cities larger than 50,000 people and discovered the 50 cities with the greenest commutes. These cities have the highest percentages of workers over 16 years old who take public transportation, carpool, walk or bike to work.

Given that environmental attitudes and political leanings are often related
, state
party affiliation tends to correlate with certain environmental views.

Of the 50 cities listed, 41 reside in Democratic-leaning states, according to Gallup polls
. Six of which are in California
and 13 in New Jersey
— two stereotypically blue states. Of the nine remaining cities, one lies in a Republican-leaning state and the other eight are in competitive states (those that don’t lean one way or another).

Note: Though it may seem that some cities are tied in terms of percentage of “Green Commuters” (those who take public transportation, carpool, walk or bike to work), they are not. These percentages have been rounded to the nearest tenth.